Friday, April 4, 2008

kill - verb

To cause death without guilt.

COMMENT: Murder is, of course, one of the most egregious sins. One way to avoid it is not to kill people. The other is to kill so indiscriminately that the act becomes disconnected from intent, and therefore from guilt. Both are socially acceptable.

At least 21 civilians, including six children, have been killed in US air strikes in Afghanistan ... The deaths brought the total of civilian deaths to almost 100 in the past two weeks ... A spokesman for the US forces, Major William Mitchell, declared that the troops had killed a "significant" number of insurgents in firefights and the subsequent bombing. "We don't have any reports of civilian casualties" he said. " There are enemy casualties - I think the number is significant."